Wardrobe trunk



Dec.- 11 1923.

H W. ROUNTREE WARDROBE TRUNK Filed ,Jan. 5, 1923 ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 11, 1923.

l UNI-TED STATE Sf PAT I o-F-Fi cs HENRY w. nounmnn," on *mcnmonnyvmeinm;

BROTHER? rnunx ewemm;'meoerommn, or RIo'HMoNb; vinemmi wARnRoBE TRUNK.

Application filed Jiinuaty 5, 1923/ Serial 610,875,.

To all 'w hom it may Concern:

Be it known that- I, Hni mr Rhrin'riinn,

a citizen ofthe UnitedStates, residing at Richmond, State of new and useful Im rovementsin Wardrobe Trunk-s, of which theffollowingis'a specifi cationi I I t My present invention has reference to ini provements in wardrobe trunks inf'whieh is included a'clothes presser or follower adapt-l ed for beingu'tilizedes an ironingboard when 'it is. removed from the clothes com partment of-the trunk, andiiir which is also included a laundry. bag, straps orother'means'in the clothes ,conipartment of thetrunki. and mysaid inven tion primarily: has for its' pi'1rpose tore vide an improved i construction Q. of laundry bagland clothes 'p-resser 'or follower attach;

merit for wardrobe" trunks simpl'e and *ecoQ nomical. in construction; and having (pro? vision to provide for movinggthe follower board,'"th'e laundrvbag and clothes hangers to the clothes compressinglposition," in uni son, the laundry bag also acting" as dustrproofIcurtain for the merits, and" the Presser-Q or follower board V is'adapted for holding the laundry bag en} trance; covering flap closed againstbeingf readily opened for access to thebag whenthe trunk is opened in-the upright position for having access; to the drawers thereof Another object of my invention is'to pro}- vide, in a wardrobe think, a. simpleand inexpensive means for slidablysupportingjthe laundry bag ion the clothes hanger trolleys and for" suspendingflthe renews-r board 'on and to move with" the laundrbag' andatf the same timeholdtlie' board in the desired id-way position over' the front face of the;

bag and to provide-for readily 1' diseonnec'tf ing the aid, board from its suspension/without disturbing the hangingpfthe laundry' bag. a i b With other objects in view that will here matter be mentioned,- my invention] em.

bodies the improvements iii wardrobe trunks? fully explained in the renewing detailed description,' specifically stated" in Rfthe -ap'-' pended claims and illustrated infthe accompanying drajwi'ngsg'injwh'ichz Figure 4 rl e l t re robe trunkjsect'lon'wi'th my improvements;

7 in. the county of Henrico' and Virginiahave 1I1V6Ilted'. certain laundry bag,

" usually secured hung gari for being bined follower and being shown in their clothes dust protecting position;-

F1gure 2 is. a perspective view ofthe laun dry bag. and the combined follower or iron= ing board the'latter being lifted from the V 1, -r1g1d eros strip on the upper edgeof the halfsections so hung together that, when opened andthe trunk is supported in. the

upright position, as shown in F igure the drawers that fill one compartment or trunlc receiver formed in sectionand the clothes l the other section or compartment of the trunkhave such relationthat access to either of the said trunk compartments may be con- V veniently had. 1 I v The clothes compartment of the trunk-"1s shown with the usual trolley rods -or-hangers22 secured to the upperen'ds of the opposite sidemembers 20 of the clothes atively embodied thereupon, the trunk,

being shown at the open position the com I ironing-board with the; rigid "locking devices and the flaundry bag pressing and Y of V compartment and are arranged inthe usual manner for supporting the conventional type of clothes hanger devices adapted slidably shifted along uthe trolleys hen the diiiierentha'ngers with the clothes;

supported thereon are moved together and held under compressionby the follower or drawings. 7 p p 1 In present construction of wardrobe trunk the laundry baginstead of beingse cured to the clothes compartment of}; the trunk bystraps, hooks' or the like is of substantial-lythe full width ofthe clothes com partment and has its openupp erjor usual closure flap 40',

end 'provided with the '95 presser board in the'usual way, and aswillg .be clearly understood from Figure 1 of-the that portion ofthe upper end of the bag] looped around and made ta 1 of 1 which the mp 40 fo e i g st to a rig 3 'width of the clothes hanger compartment of cross or strip 5 preferably a Hat strip 7 of wood, o a length substantially the width 7 of the bag'flap 40.

A" metal hanger hook 6,such as isused on theclothes hangers, is attached to each endofthe: fiat cross strip 5 and the said 'hanger hooks 6 6provide for readily suspending the bag on the opposite trolley rods 2 when the bag is to bemounted within the trunkas shown in'Figure-l.

VMetal angle stops 44: are permanently secured to that face of the strip Shaving the lflap end of the bag looped thereover,

the purpose of which will presently appear. i so far as describedand shownmy construction of laundry bag can be readily sus-' pended from thev trolleys 2 the'same as a V clothes 'hanger and when hungas' shown in Figure {1, with itsflap faceoutward, and

when-"the presser boardiis lifted'therefro m the'ilaundry .can Lbe readily placed into the mouth of the bag or removed therefrom.

The laundry bag "being substantially the r V full' width of the clothes compartment it serves" as a curtain topr'otect the clothes, hung in the compartment back of the bag,

I "from dust, and from being disturbed when placing laundry into or removing it from thebag. f

he r1gid cross strip at, theupper back edge cotth'e bag provides for conveniently hanging the presser board over the front face of the bag and to that end the said presserboardis provided with a U shaped metal hanger strip 7 that extends entirely acrosstheinnerupper edge of the board and'is adapted for snugly hooking'over therigidflatstrip 5 on the upper edge of the -bagas' is shown inFigures 1 and 5, by reference':to"which it will also beinoticed'that V theistops i e: on the top cross strip of the laundry bagare so spaced that when the boardf7O is hung, as' shown, it is centered and held'to such .suspendedp'ositionby its opposite edges engaging the said stops The upper edge of the board 7 O has a finger V v memb'er'.8"f'or "lifting the board from the fSome of the 'inodernftypes ot wardrobe laundrygbag s'triplwhen access is desired to thebag orlwhen theboard is to bejremoved and used for ironing purposes.

' trunks, "now on the market are provided "with horizontally disposed ratchets along the'i'nner faces Qof the opposite ends ofthe board. a

clothes compartmentyfor cooperating with laterally lyieldable lock'boltsi on the presser n "my preferred construction of a I presserboard, as shown in Figure 1, the

boardiis provided along the frontface with across strip 10 of a length substantially the the trunk and on thiscrossstrip is mounted [oppositely fprojected Zslidable lock bolts 7 i 1'1'-'' 11' whose jouterends project beyond the rends oi theistrip 10, forengagi'ng' the ratchets 12 at their respective ends of the clothes compartment.

The bolts 11 are suitably guided in end bearings 13 on the strip 10 and their ad'acent inner ends are normally outwar ly pressed by a coil spring 14 mounted in a suitable housing 15 on the strip 10. The inner ends of the bolts terminate in downwardly projected finger grips l6 slidable in longitudinal slots 17 in the housing 15 and the grips 16 have their angled ends bent inwardly to reduce the danger of hooking into the garments in the trunk and also to prevent the ends of the pull grips from coming into touch with the fingers of the hands.

' By providing the board with ratchet engaging lock bolts as stated and shown it is apparent that by pressing the follower board inwardly the laundry bag and the clothes behind it 'will be compressed and heldto such condition by the ratchet and 'lock bolt devices andwith the clothes held practically'dust-proof by reason of the laundry bag completely covering the same. it being understood that the bag: flap is held practically locked against being opened so long as the follower board is moved up against'the flap end of the bag as shown.

By suspending the -follower board as shown it is apparent that by releasing the lock bolts, done by pulling the finger grips together, the board can be quickly lifted off the cross strip on the upper end of the bag to permit of access to t hanger garments.

'By providing the bag with ham rs as shown, the need of hooks for holding the bag in place, as is now the practice when using laundry bags with some types of Ward robe trunks, is avoided. The expense of fitting a bagon a trunk is lessened, easy ace bag and to the 'cess to and movement of the bag is provided for, the durability of the bag is increased and the needof an extra dust curtain for the clothes compartment is done away with.

While I prefer to use a presser board provi'ded with ratchet engaging locking rods, as

shown in Figures '1, 2 and 3, a plain board, particularly adapted, for use as an ironing board and without the ratchet engaging locking device, 'may be used as shown in Figure 4, from which it will be noticed the saidboard also has the n shaped hook strip along the rear upper edge for fitting over the fiat strip 5 on the upper edge of the laundry bag.

The n shaped member that extends along the full width of the board in addition to its function as a hanger, also serves as a reinforce to prevent warping of the said board.

WhatVI claim is:

1. In a wardrobe trunk havin a clothes compartment with a pair of hanging trolleys at the opposite sides of said com iartment, a laundry bag of dimensions to substantial- 131 conform to said compartment and having a hanger strip at its upper end with means hanger strip and being of less width than said hanger strip, means on said hanger strip for centering said .follower board on the hanger strip and a latch member for securing the follower board in place to the sides of the trunk. V

a 2. In a wardrobe trunk having a clothes compartment with a pairof hanging trolleys at the opposite sides of said compartment, a laundry bag of dimensions to substantially conform to said compartment and having a hanger strip at its upper end-with means for hooking over said trolleys, afollower board having means to hook over said hanger strip and being of less width than said hanger strip, means on said hanger strip for centering said follower board on the hanger strip, 'a'latch member for securing the follower board in place to the sides of the trunk, said laundry bag having a closure flap and saidcentering means beinglo cated on the flap side whereby said laundry bag. will alwaysbe placed in such position that said follower board will engage the flap side of said laundry bag and hold the flap closed. 3. In a wardrobe trunk of the character described and which'includes a clothes compartment having garment hanger trolleys at the opposite sides of the said compartment; a laundry bag having means at the upper edge for slidably suspending it on the clothes hanger trolleys, said means including a flat cross strip, a presser board having a member that hooks over the said cross piece and means engaging the board and the trunk body for securing the board, the laundry bag and the clothes hangers to their compressed adjustment within the said clothes compartment of the trunk.

4. In a wardrobe trunk having a clothes compartment with a pair of hanging trolleys at the opposite sides of said compartment, alaundry bag having a hanger strip at its'upper end with means for hooking over said trolleys, and'a follower board hav- 7 ing means to hook over said hanger strip, and a latch member for securing the follower board in place to the sides of the trunk. HENRY W. ROUNTREE. 

